DOJ Usao Edmo Press Release Contractor Who Committed 17 Million Pandemic Fraud Sentenced 2026 02 24
Summary
Federal press release datelined St. Louis announcing that U.S. District Judge Cristian M. Stevens sentenced Coretta Elliott, 53, owner of the contractor CMT LLC, also doing business as CMT Roofing LLC, to three years in prison and ordered her to repay $1.7 million in pandemic loans. According to the release, Elliott obtained a first draw Paycheck Protection Program loan of $875,000 in 2020 and a second draw loan of $833,333 in 2021 by falsely certifying the funds' business use and inflating payroll. It says she later obtained forgiveness of the loans by falsely claiming in two applications that the money went to payroll and other legitimate expenses.
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“DOJ Usao Edmo Press Release Contractor Who Committed 17 Million Pandemic Fraud Sentenced 2026 02 24.”
Original at www.justice.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/doj-usao-edmo-press-release-contractor-who-committed-17-million-pandem-f86a8002a9/
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ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Cristian M. Stevens on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis area contractor who fraudulently obtained $1.7 million in pandemic loans to three years in prison and ordered her to repay the money. Coretta “Cory” Elliott, 53, owned and operated CMT LLC, a contractor that provided commercial construction, demolition, roofing, landscaping and remediation services. CMT also did business as CMT Roofing LLC. Elliott fraudulently obtained a first draw Paycheck Protection Program loan of $875,000 for CMT Roofing in 2020 and a second draw loan of $833,333 in 2021 by falsely certifying that the loans would be used for business-related purposes. She also inflated her company’s monthly payroll to get larger loans. She later received forgiveness of the loans by falsely claiming in two applications that she used the money for payroll and other legitimate business expenses. PPP loans were intended to help save businesses and the jobs of their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic by funding payroll, lease payments, utility payments and other business expenses. Elliott saw the loans as a way to “save herself financially,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith said during Tuesday’s hearing. Elliott diverted $200,000 into her investment account and used a total of $559,455 to pay dues owed by her companies to various construction unions. Those union dues pay for health insurance, sick pay and vacation pay. She used more of the PPP loan money for other personal purposes. "We will never know whether Coretta Elliott’s business would have legitimately qualified for disaster relief funds. However, by submitting substantial false information across multiple applications, she fraudulently secured $1.7 million in funds," said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. "Her deceit not only led to her unlawfully obtaining far more than she may have otherwise been entitled to, but it also gave her an unfair competitive advantage over other local contractors. This type of criminal conduct, driven by greed, undermines the integrity of the disaster relief system and harms those who play by the rules." Elliott pleaded guilty in November in U.S. District Court to two counts of wire fraud. The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith prosecuted the case.
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